


Strange Magic

by The_Magic_Lava_Lamp



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, The Shining References
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:28:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25515784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Magic_Lava_Lamp/pseuds/The_Magic_Lava_Lamp
Summary: ‘The Talisman’ was a shop owned by one Mrs. Sharp who believed in a world much more mystical than others were willing to admit. Her beliefs set the tone for her career path and led her to buying the place several years ago. It was to be run by herself & others who believed in the enchantment of magic that others were blind to.{Ships: Loki/Theo }(Loki, Theo, Mantis & Wanda are in a cute little friendship group & don’t ask me why but this was NEEDED!!)(Modern AU BUT Loki & his mystical gang have something very similar to the Shining™. )
Relationships: Theo Bell/Loki
Comments: 3
Kudos: 11





	Strange Magic

‘Psychic Readings

Metaphysical & Holistic goods ’

The tiny blinking neon sign buzzed as it hung against the window to the tiniest brick building. It shared it’s residence with no one else’s business these days, no longer a part of a strip but standing on it’s own. 

The Talisman was owned by one Mrs. Sharp who believed in a world much more mystical than others were willing to admit. Her beliefs set the tone for her career path and led her to buying the place several years ago. It was to be run by herself & others who believed in the enchantment of magic that others were blind to. 

In the beginning, she’d found herself in the company of one Theo Bell. He’d wandered in as an unsure but elated young man. The allure of the shop & what it stood for was the driving force for his job application. He was just plain interested in having a charmed experience to drown out any skepticism lingering inside of him. 

He was Mrs. Sharp’s first hire. He built up most of the antique shop aspect of the store. And he’d accompanied her on her quest to find a round-table of psychics & clairvoyants dedicated to their talents. 

Their first and biggest mistake as a team, was hiring the breath of spring air which was Amora. A young woman who possessed many natural abilities & enchanted those in her presence. What she lacked was a sense of her own worth. Her enriched version of what her talents warranted was beyond even her conscious mind. 

With her participation, the Talisman became something else entirely...a project for her to build herself (& herself alone) up. 

Their first and greatest choice as a team though was also hiring Amora. 

Because with the her came another little witch who’d kiss the ground she walked on if Amora asked. Loki was only comparable to a setting-moon. Doe eyes that were far more suspicious than they looked. His glances were fond and fervently unsettling. 

That was exactly why Theo fell for the mischievous boy. Mrs. Sharp knew that from the moment they were introduced. 

Loki had picked up every single one of Theo’s little gadgets laying around the store during his interview. Tossing & turning each interesting piece of equipment as if he didn’t care much for them...but his warm eyes gave him away. 

These days, Theo was having an affair of the heart (as Mrs. Sharp called it) over Loki. He watched day-in-and-day-out as the slick confident young man was reduced to a weaker version of himself whenever Amora came round for her shifts. 

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It was clear to Loki, while he was sitting at the counter for his early morning shift, that Theo was sucking on his pinkie-finger. 

It was a simple little action the smaller boy did when he was off on his own world of thought or trying to clean hot tea off his skin. Loki turned his head, fluttering his eyelashes slightly as he glanced at him. It was a habit that Theo could stand to get rid of, it's not like Loki adored hearing the sound of his spit while he was attempting to wake himself up, but it was sort of endearing. 

Theo popped the finger from between his wet lips and lifted the mug up to blow steam. 

“That’s a pretty face.” Loki remarked with snarky amusement as his friend hissed from the heat. He clasped his hands together and eagerly rested his chin atop them. 

Theo stuck his tongue out in his special little juvenile way and licked at a droplet that sped down the side of the cup. “Nice of you to say.” He winked and turned to fidget with some of the shelves. “Get your darling self over by the books and dust em’ some, will you?” He was now speaking over his shoulder because it drove Loki bonkers. 

His witchy little friend remained stationary at the counter and flicked through pages of inventory. Theo playfully rolled his eyes. 

“Oh great one?” Theo batted his eyes sarcastically and giggled a little when Loki responded. “Do me the honor?” He picked up the duster and flung it at Loki’s chest. 

Loki breezed over to him with a smirk. “With pleasure...” He drew closer and purposefully bumped their arms. “You missed a spot over there.” He leaned over him to point at one of the glass shelves. 

Theo held out his palm. “Talk to the hand, Loki.” He said in a poor attempt of an american accent. 

“Gladly.” Loki took Theo’s hand and began to trace the lines of his hand gently and with great pleasure. 

Theo sucked in some air and tried not to tingle all over as Loki swirled his touch all around the bend of his hand. For a moment, he was confused before he sadly caught on to the joke. “You’re not the palm reader kind. You’ve told me that yourself a million times.” 

Loki just hummed and continued to trace every dip in the skin. “That’s true. I'm more of a-”

“Clairvoyant Psychic.” 

Theo spoke the identification at the same time, having heard Loki refer to himself that way about a million times now. His friend looked up to smirk again and smacked Theo’s palm. 

“I see something interesting though.” Loki raised a thin brow and looked down at Theo’s hand. 

“What?” 

He attempted to pull-back with interest but Loki was much quicker. He smacked Theo’s hand up to gently smack it against his cheek. Instantly falling into laughter when Theo tried to smack him back. 

Loki just clicked away though, the heels of his boots tapping the floor as he picked up the duster to actually start the work. 

He had that simple and carefree grin on his face. It was no wonder all of Theo’s attention was right back onto the young man. Loki dipped his chin down like he was being shy before running his tongue across his lips. It almost played off as if it were a move. His moistened lips parted just slightly and the air conditioned breeze ricocheted throughout his body which just had to make him tilt his chin to the ceiling. The smooth skin of his neck now exposed to the suggestive chill-

“Hello.” 

The bell over the door rang out as Amora swayed inside the building with the prettiest little smile over her face. Theo jumped as if stung and looked far from Loki. 

Amora glided over and tucked her arm into Loki’s, taking him back behind the counter with her. She didn’t pay much of a greeting to Theo who was trying his best not to insist Loki get back to work. He leaned on his cane and frowned. 

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“Hey Trickster.” Amora pulled Loki’s sleeve and leaned her body against his as they entered the back room. He tried not to burst from her delicate touch and allowed himself to be led. 

She put him to a stop and draped herself on the tiny couch and when he sank down beside her, a tiny electric shiver shot down his spine. Their knees brushed together and the wonderful woman didn’t pull away. “I had a vision.” She spoke and flicked a piece of his black hair behind his ear. 

She pursed her lips in thought and he found himself wishing desperately for her to touch him again. Just one more speck of something; a passing graze of her fingers would do. 

Loki creased his brows. “What do you mean?” 

Amora smoothed her hands down her pants. “There’s no telling how far I can go, Loki.” She grinned. “I saw myself last night in my visions...” Amora shook her head, blonde hair pooling around her shoulders “I was finally somewhere where there’s magic in the air, Loki. Away from here.” 

Loki hadn’t realized the depths of admiration he truly had for her until she blinked up at him again. 

“Away from people who don’t believe in us, Trickster.” She didn’t yet touch him again but pressed on with her stunning looks. 

“And you were alone in this?” He couldn’t believe he’d allowed himself to ask such a pathetic sounding question but he had to know just as badly as he ached to be appreciated by her. 

For a brief second, her shiny eyes resembled a stained glass. “I looked across the cosmos, Loki.” She looked at him as if he were being a ridiculous child. “Of course you were with me. You set the dream off, after-all.”

Loki’s heart flipped with the purest form of...love. 

“We were made to use our gift for more than just...” She scrunched up her nose and glanced around the room in a way that unsettled Loki. “Parlor tricks for the blind.” 

“There are no parlor tricks here, Amora.” He felt an odd defensiveness steam up from his body like Theo’s earlier cup of tea. Protecting a job he’d once seen as cheap himself, only interviewing for the sake of sticking with the one person in the world who he could speak to. “I-” He paused. 

She raised a blonde brow. “You help these people?” She finished for him with a seed of doubt in her tone. “Loki...they don’t truly care for your abilities. They come to get a supernatural taste, tell all their friends about it and then it just becomes a funny story. No one that comes into this cheap mock-store actually believes in us the way they should. Don’t you see that?” 

Amora tried to take his hands and for the first time in his life, Loki denied her of a touch. 

The woman looked a bit shocked at the action. “You really want to be like your Mother? Or Mrs. Sharp? Holding out the flame for those with no visions just so they can see a tiny bit of what we can always see & feel?” She shook her head. 

Loki blinked, thinking of his mothers words. She’d always called it the Shine...their little gift. And he supposed Amora was right. He had been holding out his flames to others without the ability so they could take a quick peek. 

Mrs. Sharp thought it to be good work and maybe somewhere along the way...she convinced Loki of that too. He thought briefly of Theo, who never ceased to be amazed by Loki but always kept him humble. 

“That sounds like a burden to me.” She frowned. 

Loki pursed his lips. “If so, I’m ‘burdened' with a glorious purpose in life.” He shrugged. 

Amora stared at him for a while longer before she silently strutted out of the room and out of the building. 

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The rest of the week went as normal, until a tiny distraction flew by the workers on a Tuesday. That wasn't to say the distraction wasn't welcomed. In fact, Loki desperately needed something to get his mind elsewhere. 

Though, it wasn't very fun to be stuck holding a tissue under Theo’s pinched nose to keep blood from trickling down his sweater. 

Gem was working the register and attempting to shuffle chaotically through papers at the same time when he'd accidentally elbowed poor Theo right in the nose.

And in the blink of the eye, Loki was collecting tissues for his friend and proceeding to hold them for the dazed boy. It was strangely intimate.

“Good Morning.” Mrs. Sharp chuckled as she strutted inside, hanging up her scarf and trying to catch Theo’s eyes. 

Loki wiped at some dried blood just above Theo’s cupids bow, feeling the weak tissue crumbling a little. A tingle set off in the back of his mind when his friend blinked up at him with appreciative eyes. He hummed which he’d always found to be a way to harmonize his thoughts with his...visions of sorts. 

Mrs. Sharp came over and took Theo’s chin in her hand, subtly tugging him out of Loki’s grasp. 

Loki found his hand empty and his chest stung. 

“You’ll live.” She chuckled. “Big day ahead of us. I scheduled some interviews to add to our round-table and we’ll need to rush em’ since Amora quit.” 

Heat blasted through Loki’s hard chest as he clenched the rusted tissue in his fist. Amora had left? Without so much as a goodbye?

Theo fluttered his gaze back to Loki and his sprinkling of freckles looked much like a connect-the-dots game. What was unsettling was how they mixed with the dried splatters of blood droplets lingering under the soft boys nose. “You alright?” He asked which was unintentionally amusing since it was coming from the boy who was screaming in pain not five minutes ago. 

That fact pulled at Loki’s heart slightly. “Just fine.” 

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“Loki?”

The delicate sound of Theo’s voice came from the corner of the shop just a few short hours later. They were the only two left to manage the front while Gem & Mrs. Sharp ran some interviews in the back. 

He walked round the corner and slouched against the counter and instead of leaning his cane onto the counter, like usual, he swung it up and laid it across the top. Teasingly acting like he might thump Loki’s head which earned him the slightest grin. “You’re going to ask about Amora.” 

Theo wasn’t surprised that Loki knew that to be true. Not only was the man always able to predict shit but Theo was also sort of obvious. “Maybe.” He shrugged. 

Loki smiled & shoved some papers around the counter. His slender fingers effortlessly pushed them into a fine & thin stack as he seemed to debate his next move. “She’s moved on.” He blinked. 

“You’re not quitting too, are you?” Theo’s tone was uncharacteristically wobbly as he fiddled with the head of his cane. 

Loki thought of Amora once more asking him to join her and found no regret in his answer for her. He only found the pain that came from rejecting her. 

“You’d miss me too much.” Loki chuckled, not even thinking about his answer before saying it in a sarcastic tone. 

“I would.” Theo surprised him with a genuine answer. Not playing by their usual rules of teasing each other. Loki looked up in a sort of alarm which made Theo feel a bit cheekier about it. “Don’t let it get to your head, Loki but I am...fond of you.” 

Theo grinned, some freckles falling into the dips of his dimples. “But you knew that, don’t you?” 

Loki pulled his lips together and felt the tingle in the back of his mind because...of course, he did know that. He knew things about people. Just another part of his gift. But he had yet to face that fact about Theo. “I did.” He found the amusement within himself to smile. 

With the admission actually out there between them, Theo lost some of his confidence fairly quickly. Like the sea running over sand, the man did his best to cover it up. 

But of course, Loki knew. “It may not be a secret, Theo-” He started, hoping for eye contact. “But... it’s an idea you can pursue.” He leaned onto the counter and enjoyed it a bit when he blushed. 

“How will that turn out for me?” 

Loki hummed. “If you want an answer before you try...maybe check your palm cause I'm not your fortune teller, Theo.” He sarcastically gestured to his hand with a bit of a bitter tone. “Give me a quarter will you’re at it & maybe I’ll print your fortune on a cheesy card to show your friends.” 

Theo picked up his cane and shook his head. “Not all of us know things like you do, Loki.” He frowned. “I’m not counting on everything but could you just tell me if you’re interested in a guy like me? I’d like to be sure before I try to...impress you. Cause I’ve been wrong about that kind of thing before.” 

Loki pulled back slightly. “Impress me? How?” He playfully smirked. 

Theo gave him one back. “Oh, can’t tell you everything now can I?” He leaned on his cane and nearly tumbled to the floor. Loki grinned, leaning over the counter again. 

“I’m eager to find out then.” Loki fluttered his eyelashes and looked away from Theo for the first time in this long shift. 

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A ruby-lipped young woman who looked as if she might be some devil in disguise was operating the register the next time Loki came to work. Her long dark-toned hair pillowed at her shoulders and framed her peaceful looking face well. 

He knew this to be one of the new psychics Mrs. Sharp brought to their now slim round-table. He felt her energy just the same as he guessed she felt his. 

She glanced up, knowing his thoughts, and the devil flew from her when she smiled. “I’m Wanda.” 

Loki strolled over and shook the hand she offered. “Loki.” 

He spent most of his day showing her the ropes of working the Talisman and found her presence quite nice. Wanda was rather serious concerning her abilities and seemed to genuinely appreciate the business. 

She had a real sense of devotion to the clairvoyant skills she possessed and got a fond little grin on her face when she talked of it. Loki recognized the expression well considering he couldn’t be more passionate about something in his life than his skills. 

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With Wanda, came another young hire who was affectionately known as Mantis. Loki had no idea why that was but he didn’t ask.

Theo seemed pretty happy with the two girls. Relieved to have found more help for the business he absolutely adored. He was impressed with them just the same but Loki knew somewhere deep in his mind that Theo thought they couldn’t hold a candle to Loki. 

Which was ridiculously & unbelievably appreciated by him. He couldn’t bluntly read thoughts at all moments but...a lot of the time...he could. Sometimes he could hear them in his own mind if he was close enough both psychically and mentally. Which, was how he ran his appointments. 

The group was sitting round the table in the backroom where they took their individual appointments & attempting to explain their skills to the room. Mrs. S, Gem & Theo listened intently. 

Mantis was speaking very shyly with her hands folded delicately in her lap. “I have emphatic abilities.” She smiled, eyes taking turns focusing on each person in the room. 

Theo brightened. “How do they work?” 

The girl’s big eyes grew impossibly wider as she smiled again. “If I touch someone, I feel their feelings. Telepaths know thoughts-” She looked to Wanda and Loki. “Empaths feel feelings...emotions.” She grinned to herself then. 

Theo looked positively amazed, his mouth hung a bit open with wonder.

“May I?” Mantis held out a gentle hand to the lovely man. Theo gladly reached out and took her grasp. 

Loki watched as the girl was seemingly overcome with something large and...warm. Her cheeks dusted in pink and the grandest smile took over her face. “You feel love. Romantic love.” 

Theo chuckled, opening his mouth. 

“For him.” Mantis pointed at Loki with no hesitation, looking quite pleased and eager when she did so. 

Loki smirked and attempted to hide his blush when Theo pulled from Mantis’s hand. Sure, they’d come to the conclusion that they both knew Theo harbored feelings & was maybe going to pursue them...but that was now open to the whole room. 

Mrs. Sharp watched him slowly from over Theo’s head. There was a great sense of protection and hopefulness in her eyes which told Loki that not everyone needed abilities to see Theo’s feelings.

Loki slowly held out his hand for Mantis to take and felt the watchful eyes of his co-workers...his friends. It was odd for him to be on the other end of this sort of thing but...the way Theo was looking at him was what made it worth it. 

Mantis giggled. “He feels the romantic love too. For Theo.” She was about the purest little thing in the world when she laid Loki’s hand atop Theo’s for him. “Love for us as well.” She added just before letting Loki go. 

The group simultaneously broke into a mocking sort of ‘Awwww’

But Loki was far too focused on Theo to really care that much. “Seems she did all the work.” He laughed. “Guess I didn’t get the chance to impress you, huh?” 

Loki grinned. “You’ll have that chance everyday for the rest of our lives, Theo.”


End file.
